African Heads of State and Government have officially launched the Africa Infrastructure Financing Facility (AIFF), an Africa-led platform aimed at accelerating the preparation and financing of priority cross-border infrastructure projects in line with Agenda 2063. The announcement took place during the Third Presidential High-Level Dialogue of the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI) on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Summit, under the theme “Strengthening Africa’s Financial Architecture to Finance Agenda 2063.”
H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana and African Union Champion on AU Financial Institutions, highlighted that Africa possesses domestic capital pools exceeding $2.5 trillion. He emphasized that the key challenge lies not in the availability of funds, but in the strategic deployment of this capital to support infrastructure, industrialization, and job creation, while reducing dependence on fragmented financing systems that misprice Africa’s risk.
Representing the African Union Commission, H.E. Mrs. Francisca Tatchouop Belobe reaffirmed the AU’s commitment to continental financial coordination, noting that AIFF could help close Africa’s annual infrastructure financing gap, estimated at around $221 billion between 2023 and 2030. Samaila Zubairu, president and CEO of Africa Finance Corporation and outgoing chairman of AAMFI, underscored that collective action among African multilateral financial institutions, which together hold over $70 billion in balance sheets, is critical for delivering transformative infrastructure and regional integration.
Dr. George Elombi, president and chairman of Afreximbank’s board, explained that AIFF is designed to bridge the gap between political approval and financial execution. Many African projects stall not for lack of relevance but because they are poorly prepared, inadequately structured, or misaligned with long-term capital requirements. By pooling expertise, balance sheets, and risk frameworks, AIFF aims to create a coherent system capable of mobilizing large-scale capital tailored to African development realities.
The dialogue highlighted that, despite strong political commitment, early-stage project preparation remains a significant barrier. Challenges include limited project preparation funding, fragmented regional policies, and insufficient coordination among stakeholders. AIFF, established under a cooperation framework between AUDA-NEPAD and AAMFI, provides a structured mechanism to accelerate project readiness and facilitate indicative, non-binding financing engagement for priority infrastructure aligned with Agenda 2063.
